Legal Definitions - truancy

Truancy refers to the act of a student intentionally missing school without a valid excuse, when they are legally required to attend. It signifies an unauthorized absence that goes against established school attendance policies and state laws.

• Example 1: Sarah, a high school student, decides to skip her afternoon classes to attend a concert rehearsal for her band, without informing her parents or the school. The school's attendance office marks her absent for those periods.

  Explanation: This is an instance of truancy because Sarah willfully chose to be absent from school for a personal activity that is not recognized as a valid excuse by the school. Her absence is unjustified according to school policy, and as a high school student, she is legally required to attend.

• Example 2: A group of middle school students regularly meets at a local park during school hours, having convinced their parents they are at school. They have no medical appointments or family emergencies.

  Explanation: This situation demonstrates truancy because the students are willfully absent from school without any legitimate reason. Their presence at the park instead of school constitutes an unjustified failure to attend, violating their legal requirement to be in school.

• Example 3: David, an elementary school student, is kept home by his parents for a week-long family vacation during a regular school term. The parents did not seek prior approval for an excused absence, and the school's policy states that unapproved vacations are unexcused.

  Explanation: While the parents authorized the absence, from the school's perspective, it is considered truancy because the absence is unjustified according to their official attendance policies. The school requires students to be present unless an absence meets specific criteria for being excused, which an unapproved vacation does not.